WorldSBK Aragon Qualifying: Jonathan Rea back on pole in Aragon

May 22, 2021 EMR Writer

Jonathan Rea takes yet another pole position at the circuit of Aragon as he eyes up 100 victories.

Jonathan Rea returns back to the top in Aragon taking the pole position for the season opener race later today at the Alcañiz circuit, Rea was able to set a lap time even the MotoGP boys would be proud of with a 1:48.458 to ensure he gets the best start possible for today’s race as he continues to hunt down that elusive 100th race victory that he was unable to achieve last year, he’s going to have his work cut out for him though with 3 different manufacturers on the front row.

Before the season started Rea noted that the Ducati’s are going to give him the most trouble this year and he’s absolutely right, he’s got one just behind him on the front row only 0.275 seconds back from his lap time, title rival Scott Redding is on the hunt for the crown this year and is taking no prisoners, I have a sneaky feeling the pair will be duelling right down to the final race once again this year, joining the duo on the front down is Tom Sykes on the new BMW M 1000 RR which he has said is strong enough to battle for the title this year, this confidence in his machinery is shining through today with his front-row start.

Alex Lowes heads up row two following a tough pre-season plagued by injuries that stunted his testing time, the Lincolnshire man is chasing another podium for the green team after struggling slightly last year to continue his 2019 form. Chaz Davies and Garrett Gerloff were the two fastest independent bikes, with both riders receiving factory support there’s no reason why they cannot fight for the race win later on today.

The HRC riders were the first two riders on row three ahead of Michael Ruben Rinaldi who took the race win here last year as Toprak Razgatlioglu rounded off the top 10 ahead of Tito Rabat.

Further down the order we see Michael van der Mark in P15 who made the shocking choice to leave Yamaha and sign for BMW, the Dutch rider not having the best of times at the moment with parts from his bike literally falling off during FP3.

Full results: